The first Monday gaming lounge

Inspired by my friend Holden, I've decided to try my hand at doing some review writing on a regular basis. Not only to harp about the games I'm currently playing, but as regular practice for what I'm hoping will be part of my career.

With that in mind, feel free to critique my critiques as it were. The best way to improve your writing is to have others read it.



GAME: Virtual On-Oratorio Tangram for Xbox Live Arcade

Whenever I used to visit Gameworks up in Seattle, the first stop I'd make wasn't the Marvel vs Capcom machine or one of the dime-a-dozen racing games that dotted the establishment. I went straight for Sega's Virtual On booth situated near one of the entrances.

The game is no longer at Gameworks sadly, replaced by yet another racing or gun game. But recently it was released for the Xbox 360's Live Arcade library much to fan's delight. The question is how does a game so very designed for a coin-op arcade handle on a console?

Virtual On can be best described as a mech fighter. Players control one of several massive Japanese mecha in an all-out 3-d gladiatorial brawl. Much like any good fighting game, each robot has a distinct fighting style and personality. They range from the burly heavies with giant laser cannons to the pink robot with the miniskirt and magical wand.

The game still retains its cube-like design that was a holdover from the early days of 3-d gaming. It makes it look somewhat dated, but some of its visual charm is its simplicity. The battlefields do not distract the player from achieving the goal of knocking the block off the other robot. The robots themselves, as mentioned before, still retain a unique apperance from one another, although one or two designs end up being recycled.

What sets Virtual On apart from other fighters is its controls. In the arcade version players used two joysticks to manuever the robots. It took some getting used to, but it did a good job of mimicking the feel of piloting a massive 300 machine. The 360 version features a control system attuned to its own controller style. This control scheme I actually prefer for the console because it takes into account the Xbox control layout. For players seeking to re-live the arcade experience, an option is availible that uses the Xbox thumbsticks as substitutes for the original joysticks. The learning curve is still present on the console, so players looking to dive right into the game need to be willing to learn rather than win for a short while.

During each match, each robot has a choice between three weapon systems: A gun, a bomb, and a melee weapon. Each weapon acts differently according to the motion of the robot. If you dash forward for example the gun will fire a few shots, but if you dash to the side the gun fires a machine-gun stream. A large part of the fights is about maneuvering into a position to fire a weapon the way you want it too. It beats having to memorize combo lists like other fighting games, but it can lead to a rather forced style of motion. This doesn't mean the fights are any less intense as mechs fence for the upper hand.

The biggest complaint I have about the game is its multiplayer component. You can only play others on Xbox Live or by linking directly to another Xbox. While I appreciate not having to deal with a split-screen, it does limit the amount of people who can play to those with other Xboxes. Those who want to play against their non-Xbox owning friends should look elsewhere.

For its limitations, Virtual-On has made a solid transition to the console. It retains the core gameplay of the arcade version and is not a bad buy to boot: 1200 Microsoft points (equvalent to $15). Its something both fans and those looking for a different fighting game experience will enjoy.

SCORE: 8/10

Spies!

As I still don't know how to embed youtube videos into this blog: A link

Spy!

For those of you not in the know, this video is part of the "Meet The" series being produced by Valve for their Team Fortress 2 game. Each clip stars one of the game's job classes and highlights their antics and personality quirks.

This episode has to the best one by far. Poor Scout. I'm surprised those pictures of his mom haven't already leaked out to the interwebs.

I can't wait to see what Valve has in store for the remaining two classes who haven't been featured in the series. The Pyro and the Medic certainly have their work cut out for them tho, trying to top this last video.

Conflicting reflections

So, an explanation for the last post.

After having our original ferry depart 30 minutes earlier than expected and waiting an hour for the next one, my Visual Journalism class made it to the San Juan Islands with guarded optimism. For us, this trip was both an excuse for a vacation and a marker for when we began our work on the big website project. Things went smoothly until we had to find our host homes for our nightly rest.

I sincerely hope that whoever wrote our directions was either in a hurry or bone tired. I certainly would not understand why they were so poorly written any other way. They failed to mention where to turn onto key intersections and, to top it off, were CUT OFF at the end. Meaning were forced to call our hosts to find out exactly where they lived an hour before midnight.

If I weren't so buzzed from the drink I had at the restaurant, my gamma-powered anger issues might've cost us our ride.

But what really got me is how our professor treated the whole trip. She insisted we take a look at parts of the museum we were not allowed to take pictures of. She kept remarking how nice certain sculptures at the park would look on the website. And not once did we hear any nice back story on the art pieces, just a brief summary of the artist and how much the sculptures cost.

I personally think our professor was having issues with one of the most basic tenets of journalism we learn about in ethics class. That is, conflict of interest. As she is a part of the museum board, I can understand how our professor feels the site should represent the best of what the museum has to offer. But at the same time I feel like shes not really teaching us anything. We're here to do the museum's work, and its up to us to figure out how. Perhaps its a part of how our 'capstone course' works, but then we should really have more training coming into the class. NONE of my classmates or myself know how to put a website together properly. And now we're expected to know how to embed video?

Please at least teach us some of the skills we need before expecting us to give you something to impress the board at your next meeting.

On planning trips

Make sure you have complete directions!!

Spent nearly an hour driving halfway across an island and making sheepish phonecalls to our host in order to find his house. If your professor is going to bother using you to further her agendas then she can at least get her directions to her fellow extortionists right.

A longer post to follow later when I'm not so dang tired.

Wherin DK makes a 'shocking' discovery

Counseling is an entirely self-governed process.

I think many people (including myself at one point) go into a counselor's office expecting to find out exactly whats wrong with them and get treated for it, much like at a physical check-up. But from my recent experience, that's not how it works.

My counselor, Michelle, sits down with me and asks some questions at the beginning of each session. These range from 'what makes you feel at your worst' and 'what is your family like'. These obviously are not the exact wordings, just the gist of them.

From there it becomes similar to the Socratic process. She questions me until we get to a specific source pf my problems, and then she makes some suggestions. However, her solutions are also ways for me to come up with the answer to my own problems.

So far this method has worked for me up until now, but I can't help wondering how other people take to this technique. I understand that there are many methods of helping people with the bad things in their heads. Is a counselor expected to know them all, or do they specialize like many white-collar workers in America?

(NERD)By the way, as a nod to my rommate Allen, "You're doing a great job," does in fact let a person use a healing surge outside of D&D. (/NERD)

Some Videos and a Note

Team Fortress Starfox

Oh the craziness. I love it when computer games give players a accessible, creative outlet. It's finding its way onto console games as well, but I think the possible tools a PC can provide is a hard act to follow.

This one's a little hard to follow if you've not played either game, but I the sheer bizarreness of the video makes up for the in-jokes.

Shaping the Steel

What does a man do when confronted by his fears, worries and dreams in this day and age?

He starts a blog and whines about it.

I don't intend for this blog to become anymore than a sounding board for yours truly. The idea is that it will help me with my writing skills and become a sink to drain my anxieties. Maybe it'll attract readers, maybe it won't. That's not the point. This is for yourself, from yourself.

Of course that doesn't mean comments and criticisms won't be welcome. You don't have much choice in that matter once something exists on the internet. Ever been on Youtube? Nothing is sacred there.

Lets see how far this thing goes.